Thomas Buechler

Thomas Buechler - Switzerland

He visited all the 193/193 independent countries of the UN and all 7 coninents, 294/330 countries and territories on the Travelers' Century Club list, 1204/1500 countries and territories on the MTP list,  1140/1301 regions on the NomadMania list, 1006/1223 UNESCO World Heritage Site and spent 23 years on the road.

I have flown with 220 different airlines with a total of more than 3 million kilometers flown. I spent about 6,5 months of my life inside airplanes. 

On top of that, I have done some spectacular overland trips:

1)  Twice 1980 and 2020 the Transsiberian train, 1980 from Lucerne, Switzerland to Beijing, all the way by train, about 12 680 kilometers,                                                                                     2020 winter time between Kazan and Vladiwostok, this time  stopping in each single oblast and republic along the way.

2)  1994 by jeep from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal, via Shigatse, about 1 000 kilometers.

3)  2000 by public bus from Kigali, Rwanda to Dar ES Sallam, Tanzania, about 1 500 kilometers.

4)  2003 by shared taxi and buses from Ushuaia, Argentina to Caracas, Venezuela, crossing Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, about 16 000 kilometers on public transport.

5)  2004 by public transport from Kabul, Afghanistan to Khiva in Uzbekistan, taking the Hindukush tunnel, Mazar el Sharif, Kunduz, crossing into Tajikistan by boat over the river, then the Silk Road, about  1 600 kilometers in total.

6)  2008 by train and bus from Pjönyang, North Korea to Bangkok, Thailand via China, Vietnam, Cambodia, about 4 000 kilometers all by public transport.

7)  2010 by motorbike and shared taxi from Harper (arriving from the Ivory Coast over the border river Cavalla) Liberia to the capital Monrovia via Fishtown, at the time when Harper was cut off from the outside world, about 630 kilometers on terrible roads.

8)  2010 by train, ferry, bus from Cairo, Egypt to Khartum, Sudan, about 2 250 kilometers.

9)  2015 by train and bus from Beijing, China to Bishkek, Kyrgistan via Lanzhou, Urumqui, Kashgar and the Torrugart pass, about 6 000 kilometers.

My last country was Namibia, 28. September 2016.